Me...,go camping..., NEVER!

Sorry for not writing for so long, but so much had been going on...but that's another story for another blog....
OK for any you who know me well, or even just know me a little, you know that that my name and camping have NEVER gone together well. Growing up my mother's idea of "roughing it" was staying at a 3 star hotel (have you ever seen TROOP BEVERLY HILLS - we lived in a white house with permanent vacuum cleaner lines!) and yes we have even flown first class a few times on really long trips. What seems like a lifetime ago some friends did invite us to go camping with them in the Ocala National Forest. It was going to be my first time camping but I was assured it would be fun. Now don't get me wrong, I love the outdoors and one of my favorite activities is hiking but with no inside or outside plumbing and not being able to sleep on a mattress it didn't sound like fun, but why not. Although I loved spending time with my friends, it was not exactly my idea of a great time. So what on earth ever caused me to go on a camping trip with my lovely family 2 weeks ago, let me explain.
When we moved to KY we didn't have money to spend on vacations so we tried to find cheap ways to "get away" and because KY is the land of parks we decided to start there. I will say that KY has fantastic state parks, some with hotels, pools, hiking trails, horseback ridding - you name it. The parks have lots of hiking trails and some even have caves so I was really enjoying our excursions.
Our first trip was to Mammoth Cave for a long weekend. We stayed a hotel outside the park which was waaayyy out in the middle of nowhere. With my job I get a discount at several hotel chains and because we were poor we stayed at the cheapest, and I mean cheapest hotel I could get a discount at. OK that should have been an indicator that it may not be the Plaza, but a well known chain couldn't be that bad... After changing rooms because the first one had never been cleaned after the last inhabitants left and finding unknown crust in our second one I realized that next time I may need to not be quite so cheap! The caves were amazing, we had some great family bonding time and although our sleeping quarters were less than great, I couldn't wait for our next trip. That's when my husband first mentioned camping (he figured at least we would be in our own tent and would know that the crust would at least be our own.) Needless to say his argument didn't sway me.
Each successive trip we made, camping was mentioned again and slowly my husband wore me down. The state parks had campgrounds that had "facilities" with showers, we could get an inflatable mattress to make it more comfortable, we would end up spending less money in the long run and so on, and on, and on. I relented and we planned our first trip.
Now this is when the fun begins. My husband who has never planned a camping trip and only went on them when he was little, and me who was practically a camping virgin trying to figure out what we needed. Can anyone see where this is going? I started to ask anyone I came across what would be needed. Obviously we knew the basics - tent, sleeping bags, camping food (ie trail mix, beef jerky, etc.), bottled water/drinks but we wanted to make sure we didn't forget anything. We were staying at a site that had electric and water so it wasn't like extreme camping.
The day before we were supposed to leave we hadn't yet packed but my husband assured me that it wouldn't take that long. Why I believed him, I don't know.
Three hours before we were supposed to leave we realized that we didn't charge the air compressor for the air mattress and it needed to be charged for 12 hours uninterrupted before use. Issue number one of many.
Five hours after we were supposed to leave, we finally made it on the road. We decided we were going to stop once we got closer to camp and would pick up our food to grill that night. Not even halfway into our three hour drive, we hear the loud metal clank of a foreign object hitting the underside of our car. Within seconds (and I literally mean 2-3 seconds) from hearing the noise we realized our rear tire is flat-dead flat. Our spare is in the trunk that is packed to the brim with all of our necessities and we are in the fast lane. We pull off onto the median of I-75 and unload every item from our overflowing trunk while cars and semis race by us at break neck speeds.
After placing our well worn doughnut tire on our severely weighed down 4-door compact we rack our brains to come up with way to get to our destination. Fortunately my husband and I are fairly bright people and have kept the info from our newly purchased tires in our car. He thinks to check to see if there is a store in Lexington, which was only 1 exit down. No location listed, but I think to call one of the stores to see if there any in the area. The store rep gave me a 1-800 number and eventually we had a store and a newly bought, newly patched tire and we were on our way.
We get to camp at 7pm. We at least had the sense to realize the trip to the grocery would need to wait and ate dinner on the way. To say the site was small was an understatement. There was a paved parking spot and a very slopped gravelly area in which we were supposed to pitch our new 10 person plus screened in patio tent. HMMM! The tent was up just as pure darkness surrounded us. Now we only had to blow up our full size air mattress with a hand pump, yaay! We thought about starting a fire but realized that we didn't bring wood, among the many things we would later realize we overlooked-oops!!!
Had I mentioned yet that I am not what you would call an expert on camping. My hubby had checked the weather report before we left and notified me that it would be mostly sunny with day temps in the upper 80s to low 90s and nights clear in the 60s. I brought to wear shorts and tank tops with 1 long sleeve shirt and jeans. To sleep in I brought a t-shirt and sleep shorts, yes a t-shirt and sleep shorts!!! What on earth ever possessed me to think that such minimal sleepwear would be sufficient still confounds me. We had also only brought 1 cotton and 1 flannel sheet for bed covers.... Needless to say I am more of a Florida girl than I realized. That night I spent shivering more than sleeping.
Once day broke we needed to start a fire so we could get coffee going. For those of you who do not know me, I am a coffee junkie, an addict if you will. I cannot function without at least half a pot charging though my system. (did I mentioned yet that we didn't pack well, do you recall me mentioning earlier that we had not brought firewood) Fortunately for me the state park had a hotel with a restaurant where I picked up breakfast and coffee. Unfortunately with no shower as of yet (before i froze to death, it was so hot and humid that i was covered in a layer of ick) and a long sleepless night, most of the restaurant patrons thought I was something that should crawl back to the rock under which I came from. Thank goodness for take out!
After breakfast we had to set about getting our tire properly patched per it had deflated over the night (fortunately our neighbors had remembered to bring their air compressor.) The hostess at the restaurant had either taken pity on me or wanted to see me leave as fast as possible and gave me the name of a mechanic in town. Our directions were as follows - take road "x" into town, Johnny Wheels is on the right, if you pass Kroger you've gone to far. I don't know if we ever got into town but after driving 20 uncertain miles we did eventually find Johnny Wheels. Still ghetto fab with no shower as yet and long sleeve shirt with shorts and baby blue Crocs, I somehow managed to feel as if I were eye candy to the lovely patrons and employees in the oh-so-lovely small town establishment.
We then decide to go on to Kroger to stock up on food. We then realize that not only did we not bring firewood, but we brought nothing to cook with. Not a pan, not even a knife to cut with, nothing-from 2 people who worked in the restaurant business for over 15 years between them you would have thought something, but no. After stocking up and picking up wood at the camp general store we go about fully setting up camp and start a fire. We then fill our bellies and decided to go swimming next.
I am the type of girl who normally doesn't even run to the store with out eyeliner and mascara or at least clean with a ball cap and sunglasses. The rest of my family didn't want to wait for me to shave my legs or at the least take a shower before we left for the pool so I ended up at the pool unshaven and I'm sure looking superb. Oh how the mighty have fallen!
The showers at the campsite had looked a little sketchy and the showers at the pool not so bad. I had brought my toiletries with me and decided to shower up. Bad move number-well who knows at this point. The showers stated that there would be hot water, no such luck. I was back to freezing, but at least I was clean. Come to find out later that the best time to use the camp showers is after check out when they are clean - and they have hot water!
I will say that each day I learned more about how to camp and things got better. We did meet some really great people and the park was really beautiful. We even were able to see a moonbow-you can only see them in 2 locations in the entire world, Victoria Falls in Africa and Cumberland Falls in KY. At the end of the trip we were all relaxed and didn't really want to go home.
I think I may even go camping again...maybe...

Why I'm lost - part 2

I'm a green girl living in an area where it seems that 80 % of the population owns 3 vehicals and 1-2 of them are either an SUV or a massive pick up truck. While I completely understand that some people do need these vehicals, I honestly belive that there are those who have fully purchased their vehical for the perception of what it means to have such a mode of transportation.

The city in which I live offers no recycling, none what soever. Most peoples idea of recycling is how to transform whatever they are not using into yard art. Cities and towns to the north of us do have recycling as a part of the trash services, but not where I reside.

Goodluck trying to find much in the way of organics, they are either nonexistant or so overpriced that they ate almost not worth it. Now if I drive 20-45 minutes in my shared-with-my-husband-car into the depths of the Cincinnati counter culter, then I may or may not find some eco-friendly solutions, but at that point is my gas usage worth what I would save in my carbon footprint?!

I know that for many who are living in the tri-state area these are particular views, but coming from a city who over 10 years ago implemented a mandatory recycling program (in the South be it!) it something that is truly needed to be looked at.

Kentuckians wonder why the rest of the county looks at them as backwards hicks, but I feel they continually neglect important issues so it is a status that is not completely without merit.

Now I am not some eco-crazy zealot who believes that we should go back to the pre-industral days when women washed their families laundry 1xs a month on the side of the stream- I love my washing machine too much! However I think it is important for all of us to do our share.
In our house we have made the switch to "energy smart" fluorescents - and yes the change was difficult per the "natural light" bulbs were way more forgiving to my now 30 year old face, but we have seen a decrease in our electric bill (yes, now I can afford botox-yeah right!). We use more eco-friendly products, when we can find them and really do watch our water, gas, and electric usage.

I work in an environment where the majority of people drive to work because public transportation is practically non-existent and to be quite honest not too safe. I can't tell you how many jaws have dropped when I tell people that I sometimes walk to work. To be honest I share a care with my husband, so sometimes I have to walk to work, but at 1.5 miles it's really not that bad and honestly I have chosen to walk to work even when I can drive. Not only am I saving gas but it's a great workout.

I am disappointed that in this day in age, when there is even a "green" channel on tv , that I am still having such a hard time doing what I can for the environment. There are no eco-friendly stores in our area with the possible exception of the newly built Ikea almost 40 miles away. The most I can do is spend way to much at the local retail stores for organic or "green products" or spend too much on gas traveling to get the products I want or to recycle the things I need to.

I guess either way I'M STUCK IN N KY!!!

Why am I lost in Northern Kentucky?

Hi folks - I want to first preface my first submittal by saying that as a youngster I was already a first class world traveler. By the time I was 2 years old I had already moved several times including an international stint. At 30 years old I have been STUCK in Norther Kentucky for 6 years with no hope of leaving anytime soon. Now I don't want to offend any state loving, longtime resident of this beautiful (yet economically depressed and culturally devoid) state - but for a girl who's traveled internationally several times and seen 46 of the 50 states, I am LOST!

How did I find myself stuck? In the summer of 2002 we (my small family of three) found ourselves in a bit of a crisis. We had been living a content life in the Land of the Mouse (Orlando, FL for those of you not in the know). Why would any sane person move from the land of sun, fun and international tourist galore? Let me explain.

My husband and I were looking into buying a house and my young daughter was adapting to daycare splendidly. We had great "grown-up" jobs w/401-k's and insurance, life was looking up. Then the terrible events of 9-11 happened and although we were not directly impacted, our lives were certainly affected. My husband was laid off from the struggling insurance company he was newly hired at and I was looking at losing my job in commercial real estate (who wants to build anything when terrorist are on the attack). My in-laws suggest taking a leap and moving to the great mid-west where they had recently moved. Having grow up in Wisconsin and recalling how I missed the change in seasons I jumped at the chance. We packed up the fam, put our faith in God and took the plunge. It's been 6 years since the move and times are still tough. I still have faith that God will guide us to the land of milk and honey yet, but until then I AM STUCK IN NK!!!